Case Study: Walker Love (Aryza Engage)
Walker Love, one of Scotland’s leading firms of revenue collection agencies, works with local authorities to recover council tax, non-domestic rates, housing arrears, parking fines, and sundry debts.
As customers have moved to digital communication, letters and outbound calls are becoming less effective.
To stay accessible to all generations and meet changing expectations, Walker Love introduced Aryza Engage – a conversational AI platform using two-way SMS and WhatsApp messaging with built-in automation and intelligent workflows. The new approach made it easier for customers to reach the contact centre through familiar channels while reducing manual effort for agents.
Situation
Walker Love supports around a third of Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities, managing council tax, commercial and public receivables. The company employs around 135 staff across six offices Scotland wide.
Its contact centre of about 30 employees plays a vital role in communicating with customers every day – through phone, email, web interactions and previously, 2way SMS campaigns.
But the way people engage has changed. Post-pandemic, fewer customers respond to letters or even emails, and many prefer to message outside standard business hours. The contact centre needed to adapt to these new expectations without adding to agent workload.
Task
The team’s goal was twofold: to make the company more accessible to customers and to streamline communication processes internally. Previous SMS systems required manual input and offered no automation, consuming valuable agent time and limiting responsiveness. Walker Love wanted to modernise these interactions, maintain engagement levels, and improve efficiency through smarter use of technology.
Action
Walker Love adopted Aryza Engage, introducing two-way SMS and WhatsApp channels supported by conversational AI. The platform now manages the early stages of customer communication – answering questions, collecting data, and triaging cases before they reach an agent.
The implementation began with a pilot project, supported closely by the Aryza team. As Becca Mullen, Operations & Projects Manager, recalls: “Our Aryza contacts were incredibly patient and proactive – always ready to jump on a call and help. That made the whole process go seamlessly.“
Building on the success of the pilot, Walker Love also implemented one of Engage’s most effective capabilities: agent-triggered automation. This allows agents to launch automated sequences directly within a live conversation. For instance, if a customer wants to set up a direct debit, the agent can instantly trigger a workflow that collects all necessary details and feeds them back into the same chat window.
This approach has proved transformational: agents no longer have to switch systems or interrupt conversations, and customers can complete their requests seamlessly within one interaction.
Result
The impact has been substantial. Aryza Engage now performs around 70% of the contact centre’s messaging conversations. Cases are passed to staff already pre-qualified with the information they need, enabling faster decision-making and higher productivity.
Engagement levels have remained consistent or improved, while the overall customer experience has become more flexible and responsive. Customers can now interact 24/7, at their convenience, with the AI Agent automatically queuing complex cases for agents to review the next working day.
Operationally, the change has freed up resources, reduced repetitive tasks, and simplified campaign management. As Chris Bell, Business Partner, notes, “The system has streamlined our campaigns and made it easier to engage with customers, especially those who reach out to us outside working hours.”
Looking ahead, Walker Love plans to integrate Aryza Engage with its core CRM through APIs – allowing customers to check balances, confirm payment plans, and complete self-service tasks directly through the platform. This will further reduce manual handovers and enhance the 24/7 accessibility that customers increasingly expect.
Agent Feedback
The response from the contact centre team has been overwhelmingly positive. Agents find the new system faster and easier to use than the previous messaging platform, with AI Agents now handling repetitive questions and gathering standard information automatically.
“The difference is night and day,” says Becca. “The system does the heavy lifting, freeing agents to focus on conversations that really need their expertise.” Agents particularly appreciate the note-taking feature within Aryza Engage, which allows them to add short summaries alongside conversations. “If another team member picks up a case, they can instantly see what’s happened without scrolling through the full chat history – it saves time and helps us stay consistent.”
“The AI Agent now does about 70% of the work, asking the generic questions and preparing cases so our agents can make informed decisions quickly. It’s made a huge difference in how efficiently we operate.”
“The AI Agent now does about 70% of the work, asking the generic questions and preparing cases so our agents can make informed decisions quickly. It’s made a huge difference in how efficiently we operate.”— Becca Mullen, Operations & Projects Manager, Contact Centre
“The system has streamlined our outbound campaigns and given us a more efficient way to engage with customers. It’s also strengthened our inbound digital presence, especially for people who prefer to contact us outside working hours.”
“The system has streamlined our outbound campaigns and given us a more efficient way to engage with customers. It’s also strengthened our inbound digital presence, especially for people who prefer to contact us outside working hours.”— Chris Bell, Business Partner